The Prince and the Paragon
by Original Prankster
Summary: If the only person you ever loved wasn't even a member of your species. If your own self loathing sent her from you. If you were a King and the rules stated you could never be together. What would you do to get her back?
1. Chapter 1

'With all due respect, consider what happens if you die without an heir.' He rubbed his eyes, he'd heard this argument before and he was as tired of it then as he was now. 'It will be civil war all over again.' Alistair glanced over to him, not sure how you could explain that you had an heir somewhere, probably, and not only that it was probably an apostate, mothered by someone you loathed. With the soul of a demon.

'I'll… I'll think about it.' He said.

'The Lady Anora remains unmarried.' He'd heard this argument before too, he should have championed her harder, should have done more to ensure that she had ruled and not him. She, at least, would have married out of duty. He'd always been so intent on his duty, why now, when it was so important, did he put it off.

'Yes I know.' He said tiredly. Of course he knew why. He should probably have just married her when the opportunity arose. Then he would have spent his life even more miserable. It was duty again, you see. He united the lands under one king and then… well of course, he hadn't, if you looked at it logically.

'My lord, you need to take this more seriously.' And there was the disapproval he'd come to expect from nobility, the bastard son, again not doing his duty. Caelin would have been proud. Or not. Alistair had taken to considering his brother's thoughts and as the years passed he was more and more convinced that he'd had very few.

'I am already taking this as seriously as I can.' Alistair pointed out, his penchant for humour to mask his feelings had made the nobles distrust him in the early days, so now he saved it for his friends. What remained of them anyhow. 'I will think on it some more as I go to Redcliffe.'

'I do wish you would take more men.' Alistair, almost sighed, only almost, he was getting better at that too.

'After fighting an arch demon I don't think I have very much else to worry about.' He gave a forced grin and the other man sighed.

'All it takes is one well placed arrow sire.'

'Well they've got to catch me first hmm?' It was much easier when they left in irritation, it gave them a dose of how he felt every day.

He was such a fool. Nearly three years on and he couldn't stop dwelling on what he had lost to his own stupidity. Now he was going to take the whole of Fereldan down with him. He began pulling his supplies together again, he could take an entourage, the entire court down to Redcliffe. Instead he took just one and he didn't know if it was trying to relive the glory days or trying to put them to rest. Maker, he wished they would just rest.

He was pulling on his armor when the door to his bedchamber opened. 'Don't you ever knock?' He said irritably.

'And why would I do that, you never know when I might find you in a… less kingly position.'

'Expecting to join in?' He asked.

'Well, as your dearest friend I would expect you to be polite enough to share your enjoyment.' The elf said with a slight flick of his eyebrow.

'Forget it!' Alistair said, holding up his hand. 'I'm not listening.'

'But you were the one who asked. I was merely uhh… stating my position. Or yours maybe.' Zevran smirked and Alistair sighed. Yes, reliving them, the elf was the only one who could reduce him to that thick headed innocent he used to be.

'We should get going.' Alistair said after a moment, carefully ignoring the innuendo in the elf's words.

'Of course.' Zevran said seriously gesturing to the door, hesitating only a moment. 'Of course, Redcliffe will be expecting us, but, we could make a detour. Orzammer is on our way.' And there he had said it.

'I'll meet you outside.' He said tersely.

The elf sighed. 'As you wish.' He said, leaving the room.

Alistair stared down at his belongings for a long time before throwing something in his pack and shutting it with such force he could have sworn something broke under his hand.

She had done so much for him and he had been so harsh that he had all but sent her away himself. He would have died for her, he should have died for her, instead she had persuaded him into the one thing he would never had done. The final battle had come and they had ridden on a wave of euphoria for a while. Then he had realised what he had done, the implications falling into place, one after another in his head.

Morrigan had left, no matter how hard they looked she was gone and she had taken his only child with her. A royal bastard, like he had been, someone to unseat his legitimate heirs perhaps. A child with a demon soul, left with a witch who even now he abhorred. He took a breath to steady himself. Still, he could have probably lived with that, even when he knew that it was what should have brought him the most disquiet. No, the worst part for him was the night with Morrigan itself.

He had enjoyed it. Not so much the happy feeling in his pants, but the need to not be a gentleman. She had been beautiful and had not needed any special consideration in his mind. She was a vessel that needed filling and that had been it. It had been an animal instinct, no finer thoughts or feelings to get in the way. He had done his duty. Maybe that was the reason why his duty now was such a burden. Even now, he wasn't sure it was the right thing to do, if it would end the blight the way she had suggested.

She hadn't cared.

That was probably the most galling thing, maybe if she had been hurt, or upset he could have dealt with the self flagellation to make her trust him again. She'd excused it, trying to explain that as a Grey warden she had to put what she needed below saving the world. She had been right of course, which made it worse.

He had stopped sleeping with her, it was easy to make an excuse after all, there was so much he had to do and so much she had been requested to do. He just wasn't able to see sex in the same way after she had encouraged him to sleep with someone else. She made him crazy, even then, he loved her so much that even the idea of going back to how they were would taint her some how. In his mind their love had been pure, a light in such darkness and she was perfect. He couldn't sully her, not by offering her himself, not anymore.

The camp had been quiet the night he had rejected her for the final time. She wore her armour, but sword and shield were left by the camp fire, there was no real need to sleep with your weapons like there had been before. She had sat beside him, tiny and perfect, he had never expected to fall for a dwarf. Humans had always called them fat, but you couldn't trust what you saw, they were all muscle. Running his hands across her silky smooth skin for the first time had been a surprise, he'd never expected to feel such strength in the arms of the woman who loved him.

She had tried to kiss him and he had pulled away, using his height to create a barrier between them. They stared at each other wordlessly for a long moment and the pain on her face still twisted on his heart today. She had got up and made her way back to her tent, leaving him alone with his silence. By morning she was gone. She had left the stash she was in charge of on his bed roll, taking only her sword and the Aeducan shield she had always worn.

It was months of anxiety later that they had news from Orzammer. She had gone home and they had raised her to Paragon. As she had deserved. He sighed to himself, she was probably happier with her own kind than she could have possibly been with him. Maybe she was married, maybe she already had a little dwarf on the way. The thought twisted his guts.

He finished packing, it didn't do to dwell on memories, he had a life to lead here. He was responsible. He went down to meet Zevran and the dog. The Mibari had stayed with him, not imprinted but obviously figuring that he was it's best bet to find her again. 'Are you ready now?' Zevran asked and Alistair nodded. There were no horses in this land and in fact they did their best to not draw attention to themselves as a ripe target, so they walked.

'So, I was wondering…' Zevran began on their third day, the day that Alistair's feet became leaden.

'No, I'm not interested in you that way.' This was pretty much how their days went, Alistair pretending to be as innocent as ever. Even though Zevran had eventually gotten his way and they had spoken about how to pleasure women, even though Alistair had nearly died of embarrassment.

'Well, I think you protest too much in that, but it was not what I was thinking of.' He admitted. 'I was more seeking a favour.'

'This should be good.' Zevran had dealt with a few problems Alistair had obtained in Fereldan and Alistair should probably pay him more than he did.

'Well, I can understand your reluctance to not visit Orzammer yourself. But I was wondering if I could, maybe in your stead.' Alistair went silent, he had watched how Zevran had spoken to her and the thought of her now being a free agent and alone with him.

'I'd really rather you didn't do anything in my stead.' He said grouchily.

'Oh so you intend on going yourself, this is wonderful news.' Zevran gave him a broad grin.

'No, I didn't mean…'

'Well you must think that you should greet the King again, after all you did help put him there yes?' Zevran was trying to out manoeuvre him and Alistair knew he would because frankly, Zevran was a lot smarter than he was.

'Well, yes I did but…'

'Well that is settled, I shall go and inform Redcliffe that you have taken a detour and then I will come back to Orzammer after you.' Zevran grinned at him. 'In case you forgot, the path to Orzammer is just over that hill, I will hurry to deliver my message through the forest and see you in several days.' Alistair tried to protest, but the elf was already gone, he stopped in the middle of the road, feeling how his stomach dropped. He looked at the dog who whined at him and then gave a happy bark.

'I could just go to Redcliffe without him.' He said and the dog whined. 'Oh I see, you're in on it together.'

He stared at the road quietly for a long time, he had wanted to explain himself for so long, he had just never had the courage. He could… well he could at least pay his respects to the king and maybe by now, she may have forgiven him. The first step was the hardest, after that it was the second step, which was worse, his feet were leaden as he made his way towards Ozammer.

'By the Ancestors!' Came the exclamation on reaching the gates. 'It's the Grey warden!' Of course, that's how they would remember him, they might, if he was lucky, remember that he had become king, and not turf him out the second he did something stupid. He was led to the Royal palace almost immediately, remembering the way and that this was where she had grown up.

'Your Majesty.' He said as he was brought into the King's study.

'Your Majesty.' The man responded in amusement. 'It is good to see you again, even with the dog.'

'Well I couldn't leave him behind, he was kind of… insistent.'

'You've come alone?' He asked, eyes gentle and serious.

'Well… no, the dog.' He reminded the King, whom he had always thought of as a much kingier king than he was.

'I take that to mean that it isn't me you have come to see.' Alistair hesitated, wondering just how common the knowledge about them was. 'You have come to see the Paragon, you were friends through the Blight.'

'I… Yes, I was hoping to see her, could I?' He asked. 'I'm sure she is off doing more important Paragon type things but…' He trailed off.

'So am I.' The King said to him. 'But I don't know where she is I am afraid.' Alistair frowned.

'What… what do you mean?' He asked nervously, he too vividly remembered his last visit here.

'She went to the dark roads, nearly two years ago.' Alistair felt his heart hurt for a moment, yes, he remembered what waited for her on the dark roads.

'The Darkspawn were defeated.' He said as an ointment to his own conscience, anything that happened to her down here was his fault after all.

'And as ever, the last bastions lie in wait in the darkness of the forgotten Thaigs.' The King said quietly. 'She went to do her duty as a Grey warden, to fight darkspawn, and her duty as a Paragon, she went to reclaim them and their riches for the glory or Orzammer.' Alistair felt sick and it must have shown on her face. 'She has recovered three lost Thaigs since her return, dwarves are, even now, rebuilding that which was lost.'

'Hasn't she already done her part?' Alistair asked him quietly.

'I asked her the same question.' The King gazed at him. 'She told me that she would do her duty for as long as she was able.' He took a breath. 'She sends word through the Legion of the Dead, they see her and some times battle along side her. Occasionally she will arrive at the Fortress of Bownammer, which has been reclaimed by the Legion and tell them of a cache.'

'She fights alone?' Alistair asked and the King nodded slowly.

'You're going to go after her then?' He asked and Alistair hesitated. 'I fear for her, not as a Paragon but as the daughter of my friend. You are probably the wrong person to go, you have your duty after all.' And there was that word again, his duty had lost her in the first place, he wouldn't do it again.

'I have a duty to her too.' He said, realising what he had said as he had said it. Of course, the one duty he had failed. 'I am a Grey Warden too.' He said quietly. 'I will not leave her down there to her fate.'

'I had hoped.' The King said quietly. 'The dark roads, they change you, even as empty as they are now. I think, as stupid as it might seem, she needs to be touched by the sun again.' Alistair smiled, dwarves had strange practices and ideas, there had been times she had just stared into the sky, watching the night sparkle with a thousand diamonds. She had been beautiful.

'She will not be harmed.' He promised. 'She is not like Branka after all.' He got up and pulled on his shield. 'Come on dog, I need an early warning.' The dog barked happily. 'Where was she last seen?'

'Not far, she was last seen on the roads near Aeducan Thaig.' He said. 'I believe she has reclaimed it and not yet informed us.'

'Why would she do a thing like that?' He asked with a frown.

'Because she is the last of the Aeducans and I don't believe she wants to set up her home Thaig yet in her own name. It's a Paragon thing.' The King said. 'Here, I have a map although, you have been there before I understand.'

'It was a long time ago.' He said seriously taking the parchment and looking down. 'Thank you.' He said seriously, bowing to a fellow king, before taking his leave. The dog barked and ran around happily, somehow knowing that they were going to find his mistress. The dark roads were not as daunting as he remembered, the early roads were bathed in torch light, a sign that the dwarves now had reclaimed part of their lines from the blight. It eased his heart, knowing that the signs of the Blight were receding even here, where the only difference a blight made was a respite. It gave him a little courage to maybe accept Morrigan's offer as true. That maybe his child was key to stopping the blight.

The journey to Aeducan Thaig was uneventful, except for one meeting with a genlock, ravaged with hunger and half blind from an injury. It was more a mercy killing than anything else. He approached the door to the Thaig with trepidation, it should be locked, and yet he was able to push the stone door open with difficulty. He looked around quietly for a long moment, the old stones were still holding firm, there was a strange beauty to this part of the underworld, it looked… cared for.

There was still rubble but not the coating of dust he had come to expect with the old ruins and there was a smell of food in the air. He made his way quietly to a small house within the Thaig and hesitated before knocking on the door, feeling a little silly even as he did so. There was no answer so he took a breath and opened it. It was a small room, dwarf sized really and he almost had to duck his head, but not quite. There was a fire of Branka's smokeless coal and a pot heating up on top of it. A stone table and chair with stacks of books. 'Hello?' He called, his heart pounding.

There was silence. He opened the single door, spying a bed made of furs and biting his lip, his mind treacherously moving to her naked body. He frowned and looked around, there was a large tome on the table and he hesitated a moment before turning a few pages, noticing that the later part of the book had a distinct gap, like a bookmark was in there, he turned the pages with excitement, hoping to find where she may have gone, instead his discovery made him feel wretched.

Perfectly pressed between the pages of the book was a rose, it's rich red petals now brittle and papery. He swallowed softly. He had thought he loved her then, but he could still think when he had given her this rose. Later he could barely function when in her presence, her light shining into his heart like a beacon. He had thought that had been love then too. It wasn't until she had left, until she had taken her light with her that he truly realised he was lost. She had kept it. A testament to her feeling even after his rejection. Or maybe a testament to never trust him again. Oh, he hoped not. Carefully he closed the book, making sure not to damage the rose.

He needed some air, the room was too close for his liking and he pushed open the door, stepping out into the… not fresh air, letting the door swing closed behind him. Then it was like the door hit him in the spine and he staggered. Again and he staggered forwards trying to keep his footing. The final slam into his back lifted him from his feet and he hit the ground with a clatter of metal. He groaned, a little dazed as he tried to move, until the sword pointed at his neck and he stopped. 'Wait!' He called and there was silence behind him, he didn't dare look around.

'Alistair?' The voice was music to his ears and he took a sharp breath, feeling his heart shudder.

'Yes, it's me, would you… mind taking your sword from my neck?' He asked after a moment and there was hesitation for a second and he closed his eyes, not blaming her if she chose to run him through. She released the pressure and he very slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, wanting to look at her face again after so long.

He wished he hadn't. The pain of anguish revisited was in her eyes, so much hurt on her face that was still in her heart after so long. 'What are you doing here?' She asked him after a moment of looking into his face.

'Sitting?' He suggested without being able to help himself, even now he couldn't stop himself from using humour as a shield and her expression simply became guarded. 'I… sorry… I came looking for you.' He said quietly.

'Why?' She asked. There was so much pain there and he didn't know what to say.

'I…' He trailed off and looked at her. 'This wasn't how I imagined this.' He said after a moment, looking at her. 'Umm, I don't suppose you have any injury kits on you? Because I think I may have fractured my spine.' He gave her a winning smile and he could see the guard in her eyes slip a little.

'Come back inside and let me take a look at your back.' She said with a soft sigh.

'Oh like the good old days.' He said with a guarded smile.

'Don't, Alistair.' She looked at him, the pain had just come back to her eyes and he shut his mouth with a click.

'Sorry.' He said, getting up and making his way to her home. Wordlessly he went inside, placing his weapon and shield on the ground.

She made her way over to a chest, opening it and beginning to rummage. 'Take off the mail and undershirt.' She said simply as he sat down and he managed to not say anything she might take offence to. He slid off his clothes and was strangely embarrassed, he'd not been so embarrassed about nudity since that day Zevran had caught him in the bath and decided to make educated comments on his physique. At least now he still had his pants on. She stood behind him and ran her fingers down his spine, checking the bone. 'I think you just bruised it.' She said to him, rubbing on a balm and he felt himself shiver, he nodded and turned to look at her. She stepped away and sat on the table, making them at about eye level now. 'So, why are you here?' She asked him.

'I am… I wanted to apologise.' He said finally and she bowed her head. Wordlessly she stood and walked into the bedroom, he heard the shedding of chain mail and he waited for her to return, she was wearing a dress. He had never seen her in a dress, not once. 'Why the change of clothes?' He asked her.

'I needed to think for a moment.' She said and looked at him with a frown. 'Do you even know why you are apologising?' She asked and he nodded.

'Because I am an idiot.' He said honestly and her lips quirked faintly.

'No arguments.' She said and he shrugged, it was true. 'You shut me out.' She said to him and he nodded to himself. 'Why?' He closed his eyes, she was here before him, everything he had wanted and he had never imagined explaining this to her.

'I loved you. So much.' He said softly. 'And I couldn't stand touching you after Morrigan.' Her eyes went wide and she looked like he had punched her. 'Oh, no, I don't mean…' He half got to his feet, holding his hands out in horror. 'I just…' He grunted as his back forced him to sit again and he looked back up at her. 'I'm sorry, I think I was fooling myself that I could explain this in a way to make you understand.'

'Try me.' She said, still wounded.

'Morrigan, that night with her was…' He trailed off and looked into her face. 'Different.' Her expression told him she had never wanted to hear it, maybe she had been more deeply affected by it than he had thought. 'I'm just making this worse aren't I?' He asked and she nodded. 'I will try and get through this, because…' His sigh caught in his throat. 'Because I need to tell you.' He admitted.

'Well don't spare any details on my account.' Her tone was harsh, the tone of a dwarf, hard as rock.

'I'm trying here.' He said plaintively.

'A bit late for that wouldn't you say?' He sighed.

'Maybe I should just go.' He said bitterly, knowing he just couldn't. 'With her, there was nothing except getting the job done, there was a release and, not much else. I had told you that I wanted you to be the only person I had ever…' Even now he struggled to say it. 'And now I had destroyed that. I loved you and when I was just yours it was a rare and magical thing. Afterwards, I felt dirty.' She gazed at him.

'And you couldn't have just explained that to me at the time?' She asked, her voice softened.

'No, I don't think I could. Everything I was would have passed the taint on to you and I couldn't do that to you. You were the light in the darkness and I couldn't just sully you in that way.' She took a breath at that.

'And it was better to reject me?' She asked him.

'It seemed like my only option.' He said tiredly, he was finished, it was out now. 'What are you thinking?' He asked her.

'That I need to change my ideas again.' She admitted to him. 'I figured that…' She blushed and he smiled to see it. 'Well, I guess it's not important now.'

'Please, I'd like to know.' He said gently, wanting the light on her face to grow.

'I had thought you regretted being with a dwarf.' She said after a moment. 'That being with your own kind had made you think the way the rest of your people do.'

'How could you think that?' He asked softly, his heart hurting to see what she had been going through.

'Well you never told me.' She said. 'I mean, I was the only person you had ever…' She sighed softly.

'I had ever loved.' He said to her. 'The only one I have ever loved.'

'You're a King.' She said seriously and he nodded.

'Yes but not much of one.' He gave a faint grin. 'Can't even tie my own shoelaces still.' It wasn't much, but it was a start. 'I missed you.' He said and her lower lip trembled softly. 'Are you… are you crying?' He asked her in amazement, he had never seen her cry, he had seen her hurt, he had seen her wounded, but he had never seen her cry.

'No.' She said and the called herself liar with the single perfect tear that rolled down her cheek.

Alistair reached out and wiped it away. 'The roof must be leaking.' He said seriously, moving slowly so she would have chance to back away, he kissed her. His heart leapt as she kissed him back, everything he had feared, to pour his heart out and be rejected, to lose her to the blight, all he had fought for, the kiss made it worthwhile. Her arms slid around his neck as she held onto him, never wanting to let go again. 'I will make this work.' He promised her.


	2. Chapter 2

There were new scars, old and new criss crossing in a framework that told of the front lines of battles, each time he found a new one he kissed it in apology for not being able to stand between her and her attacker. He skin was as smooth as he remembered, but firmer, her battles here longer and more wearying. The muscle tissue reknitting ever stronger, there was so little fat on her now that, by dwarves standards at least, she was worryingly thin. On a human she probably would still have been called stout. Yet he didn't care, being with her again, able to touch her and look into her eyes meant more than the criticisms of anyone else.

He did not know how he had managed to compare having sex with Morrigan to making love to her. Because that's what it was, an extension of his love for her that he could give himself up to her. There was no guard between them, just smiles and gentle giggles in the semi darkness as he found his way around her body again, renewing the familiarity of his love. His heart felt full, almost painful to bursting as he had found her again. She lay in his arms and looked up at him as though she had been lost and he had rescued her, it was possible she felt that way too, even though he felt like scum about causing her to come here in the first place.

'So what happened here.' He asked as he ran a finger down a scar that cross her collar bone.

She smiled faintly. 'Hurlock in Ortan Thaig.' She shrugged. 'Crushed his brain with the shield and fed him to the spiders.' Alistair chuckled softly at the image.

'You shouldn't encourage them.' He said with a smile.

'Actually, you can train them.' She said after a moment. 'With time, patience and a seemingly endless supply of darkspawn.' He laughed and kissed her.

'Still seemingly endless?' He asked as he looked down into her warm brown eyes. The flashes of pain in her eyes he caught were enough to make him feel regret for the rest of his life.

She considered, it was a habit he had seen from the very beginning, she would consider all angles of a decision before choosing the response she thought most appropriate. 'There are fewer than before, they have retreated from the surface and back to their homes here. There are still armies of them, bands, after a blight there will always be fewer, even in the dark roads.' She closed her eyes. 'Living down here, you get the sense of them more, from miles around sometimes.' She opened her eyes and he tilted his head.

'So you knew I wasn't a darkspawn when you hit me?' He asked her and she smiled a moment before drawing her face together seriously.

'Anyone who breaks into my home down in the deep roads probably deserved it.' He laughed softly and bent to kiss the tip of her nose.

'My dwarven terror.' He said affectionately.

'Everyone's I think.' She said with a smirk.

'Possibly. What about…' He looked for another new scar, spying the burn mark across her stomach. She gripped his wrist before he touched it, he looked up at her face, startled by the sudden fear and anguish he saw there.

'Not that one, not right now.' The sorrow was intense and he reached out to hold her to him tenderly.

'It's okay.' He said softly. 'Whatever happened, whatever you did or felt you had to do. I understand.' He also took responsibility for it, it was his fault she was here in the first place, he should have developed a spine earlier. He stroked her hair softly as she clung to him, he had promised her he wouldn't leave her again and even if he had to change all the laws of society, he would keep that promise. 'Sleep, I will be here when you wake up.'

He listened to her as she relaxed into his arms, her breathing slow and steady in the light of the fire. She was a comforting warmth against his side and he looked down at her as she slept, her round, youthful face as beautiful as he remembered. He considered her. She was a hero, maybe he could… find a way to let the court decide she could stay with him, he hated the idea that she would only be a mistress because she was a dwarf. Maybe he could find a way to link nobility below the surface with nobility above, she was almost a queen and she was certainly a princess even if her family had lost the throne. It was a strange concept, one that made his head hurt.

The thing was, he'd never heard of any dwarf, human relationships, not even with the surface dwarves. They stayed to their own kind after all. He understood the human prejudice against non humans, he had tried to deal with the alienages and with Zevran's help he had made some inroads. He didn't even know if they were biologically compatible. He looked down at her and considered. Elves bore human children, something to do with their genetics changing, but he had no evidence to believe the same thing happening with dwarves. Maybe he could ask the shaperate, if anyone would know it was them.

He moved a lock of her hair from her forehead and smiled. He had promised he would make it work and he would, this was far to precious to let go. He curled on his side, laying his cheek against the top of her head as he held her. Maybe he would just marry her and let the nobles scream about it afterwards, line be damned.


	3. Chapter 3

Waking up the next morning had made him almost willing to forget his life above, she had been there and tangible. He'd brought her to see the dog who was waiting on guard outside the door and the creature nearly bowled her over, but hard sinew managed to help her keep her feet. Their play was rough but it did his heart good to see that she had lost little of her nature even down here in the darkness. They sat quietly on the doorstep of the little home she had made and he glanced around the thaig. 'I like what you've done with the place.' He noted. 'The King seems to thing you'll make your home back here.' He said, trying to get back to what he really wanted to discuss.

'Oh, no, I don't think I will. I think I'll let the Aeducan's die out.' There was something in her eyes that spoke volumes.

'Isn't there an entire house of them still back in Orzammer?' He asked and she shrugged.

'Not so many and our species is not exactly known for it's fertility, I give us maybe ten or twenty generations if the caste system remains in place.' He glanced at her and she flicked her eyes to him before looking away again, there was something she wasn't telling him and he didn't know if he should push it or leave it alone.

'Is that true in all cases? The fertility thing?' He asked her and she glanced at him, suspicious.

'Why?' She asked, deep in her eyes was a grain of pain he suddenly realised he could never reach.

'Well, I was thinking, yes rare I know.' She wasn't laughing. 'Well, anyway.' He coughed and threw a bone for the dog to get attention away from the awkwardness. 'So, well, humans are ridiculously fertile, but I've never heard of human dwarf relationships before.'

She sucked in a breath between her teeth. 'They're Halflings.' She said to him shortly. 'Not common but they happen.' There was real anger in her tone now.

'I…' He began after a moment. 'I'm sorry?' He questioned, a little unsure of her reaction to the idea. 'Are they bad?' She shook her head mutely and stared ahead of her, he could see the tension in her jaw.

'When I killed the Arch demon.' She began quietly. 'Do you remember the light?' Of course he did, he was certain she was dead, finding her in the rubble after spending nearly an hour screaming her name, her breathing so shallow it took Wynne nearly twenty minutes for her to stabalise her condition. 'I remember the light, it burnt so hot inside that all I could do was hold onto the sword.' She stopped and swallowed.

'You don't have to tell me.' He said quietly.

'Of course I do Alistair.' She said simply. 'Because if I don't tell you then you don't get to hate me in equal measure as I've hated you for all these years.' He blinked at that, protesting that he could never hate her in his mind but he wasn't fool enough to say it, because maybe he was wrong. He didn't feel hate for her now and wasn't sure he ever could but maybe she could find a way. The breath she took was shaking. 'Morrigan. Her spells worked perfectly, the soul passed through me on the way to it's host. What she didn't count on was the second child of grey warden parentage being on the field.' Alistair could pretend to be stupid all he liked and he could stumble about verbally for days, but he understood.

He gazed at her wordlessly for a moment and reached out to stroke her cheek softly and her breath shivered. 'Just tell me what happened.' He said softly.

'Where do I start?' She asked. 'I didn't know when I left and by the time I eventually realised I was sure I couldn't tell you. Besides, the fertility of grey wardens is limited, one could have a child with someone untainted, but two? Should never have happened, but we did practice a lot.' He gave a faint, wry, smile at that, they had indeed. 'The birth was difficult, even for me, and I was laid up for days.'

There were so many questions, but he was fairly sure he knew how this story ended. 'I'm sorry.' He whispered and reached up to smooth tears from her cheeks.

'No, she was born healthy, a Halfling yes, but a daughter by my blood, the next heir. She screamed. She screamed all the time.' She swallowed and he could feel her start to shake. 'She was… so intelligent. I know every mother says that about their child, but as soon as I saw her I knew. It took weeks before I reconciled myself to it. Morrigan's spell had protected her child, but not mine.'

'Ours.' Alistair said softly, feeling dread in the pit of his stomach, the very least he could do was acknowledge his contribution.

'She was darkspawn.' That he had not been expecting and he blinked at her. 'She looked like a baby but inside, tainted by the arch demon and so very evil. I tried to deny it but I could feel it. She watched me in the dark whilst I tried to sleep.' She shuddered in a way that echoed the hair standing up on the nape of his neck.

'What did you do?' He asked, feeling a little sick.

'I failed. I told the king and he dealt with the problem.' She was ashamed.


	4. Chapter 4

The world down here was silent, the only thing stirring was a soft breeze that whistled through the long forgotten air tubes to the surface. The scent of decay hung heavy in his nostrils as he stumbled about in the dark. 'I swear could you make any more noise?' The voice from ahead came back loud, with a small tone of irritation, making him stop.

'I'm not doing it deliberately.' He said, holding up his hands in what he assumed was a pacifying manner. 'I can't see anything.' She sighed and he could see the outline of her come back towards him and pause, going through the back pack she carried around. 'What are you doing.'

'Give me a moment, I'm trying to find it.' She said, muttering something about blind humans.

'Maybe that's because dwarves got my share of carrots growing up.' She looked up at him and he could feel, rather than see, the confusion on her face. 'It's a saying, that carrots, they help you… to…' He took a breath. 'Never mind.'

'Never.' She said, taking his hand and plopping something cold and hard into. 'Rub it between your hands.'

'Is this some kind of joke?' He asked, but doing as she said. He was a little surprised as the stone began to glow enough that he could see her face again, as well as two feet on either side him. 'Oh, very useful, maybe now I'll see the cliff as I plummet past it.'

'You know I liked it better when I heard you falling over every three steps, we can go back to that if you like?' She suggested with a sweet smile. Alistair's eyes went wide for a second and he held the light stone above his head so she couldn't reach it. Then after a few moments of staring down into her slightly unimpressed face he brought his shield around with the other hand to protect his groin.

'I'll be good.' Her severity was spoilt a little by the grin she couldn't help.

It had been a weird march since they'd left the Aeducan Thaig, she'd spent most of the walk playing with the dog whilst he struggled to find his feet. He thought it might be her way of keeping his mind occupied enough to not dwell on her admissions from the day before. They'd not spoken much, but he'd tried his best to make sure she knew he didn't blame her for anything. Of course there was only one person to blame and he really, really wanted it to be Morrigan. He tired to block out the sneaking suspicion that it was himself. 'So what is it exactly you've been doing out here all this time?' He could now spare some energy for conversation beyond cursing at rocks now he could see.

'Fighting for the glory of Orzammer. Officially anyhow. Mostly it's been avoiding politics and finding pretty, old things. The King asked me if I wanted to be Queen after he died.' She glanced up at him.

'Yeah, not so funny when it happens to you is it?' She laughed, the sound made him smile, he'd loved her laugh. It made him think things were really going to be alright.

'Well, after that offer and everything else.' She paused for a moment and took a breath. 'I figured I'd come down here…' It was the end of the sentence, but he was sure it wasn't everything she'd wanted to say.

'And?' She glanced back and blinked at him. 'Come down here and…' He prompted and she hesitated.

'Do you remember the woman with the baby in dust town on your first visit here?' She asked and he nodded. 'There was a part of me, the indoctrinated, I'm better than you part that I grew up with. That part nearly made me tell her to abandon it in the deep roads.'

The thought startled him. 'Why would you think that sort of thing?' He asked, a little horrified by a child being left to the darkspawn.

'Because that's what we do.' He looked down at her. 'Lower caste children aren't tolerated. Killing them is murder, but yes you can leave them on the deep roads.' His mouth twisted for a moment in distaste and then he gave a sick smile.

'No wonder the darkspawn are so attached to Orzammer, you know what they say about feeding strays.' The look she gave him was one of deep, deep exasperation. You still didn't answer my 'and' though.' He noted, seeing her expression flicker.

'I was a mother who had just had her baby taken from her, it really didn't matter at the time that she was a dark spawn. I went looking for her.' He was silent for a long moment.

'He left her on the dark roads?' He asked.

'He left it on the dark roads.' She paused. 'I think.'

'You didn't ask?' She turned, her eyes blazing.

'You know, with my lover leaving me and having to reconcile the fact that my child was evil incarnate and then murdered I couldn't face talking about it at the time. Maybe someone should have been there who I could have spoken to about that.' She bellowed at him, her voice echoing with rage. 'But no, I was betrayed by the people I trusted _again_ so I went to walk the deep roads _again! _Isn't that what you're supposed it do? Isn't it?' Her fists were clenched and he knew she was fighting with herself to not punch him because if she wasn't he would have been a bloody smear on the floor by now.

'I did everything I was supposed to do! _Everything_!' The shriek was about the point he'd realised she'd snapped. 'I believed in my brothers because family does that. I became a grey warden because it was better to fight than waste my life on the deep roads. I gave you up to Morrigan because it was the only way you would survive. I came home because I'm a Paragon and we're supposed to better the lives of all dwarves. I gave up my child because she was evil and you have the audacity to want to know why I couldn't bring myself to ask how she died?' He wanted her to stop but knew if he stopped her now he would never get through that wall again, so he let her pour all the rage and frustration she must have been carrying all this time at him. 'What? What is it you want from me Alistair?' She demanded and she started to break, her face turning into a scowl as she tried to stop the tears from coming. 'I don't even know…' She covered her face with her hand as she finally broke down.

She collapsed to her knees, leaning her body over double as she cried, her sword and shield spilling away from her body as she fought with herself for control. He put aside his own and wordlessly sat beside her, putting his arm around her shoulder and she tried to fight him away from her but he stood firm. With soft and gentle pressure he pulled her close to him, moving her so her could pull her tiny frame into his lap so he could cradle her like a child.

'I'm so sorry.' He whispered to her softly. 'I will never leave you again.' He swore to her, he could feel her clinging to him desperately as she cried, the years of anxiety and torment she had been through had finally come to a head. 'I love you.' He murmured softly to her. He didn't know how long she sat in his arms but it was a long time after she had finished crying. 'Let's go back.' He said. 'Let's go and talk about that future we never thought we would have.'


	5. Chapter 5

He stroked his hand across her hair, noting to himself that she needed to wash it, but he knew better than to say that to her, he valued his organs on the inside. He allowed this moment of peace whilst she slept to consider his options. He just wished he knew all the variables, he liked things in black and white, us and them, the united people of Fereldan and the darkspawn. Things weren't that simple anymore, hadn't been since he'd met Sereda truthfully.

His daughter had been a darkspawn, he trusted her senses in that, grey wardens just knew, his moral quandary was he didn't know if all children born to grey wardens ended up as darkspawn. He didn't know that because there had never been another child between two grey wardens on record before. There were stories of course, legends even, from the second blight. Those had always said that the child had been condemned, a grey warden with a double dose of the taint, his thirty years counting down from his time in the womb. Yet his humanity had never been questioned.

It was the first time in his life where he wished he could speak to Morrigan. To confirm that the arch demon had indeed moved into his daughter and not his… other child. He'd wondered about that child, almost as much as he'd wondered if the woman in his arms had hated him as much as he hated himself. She murmured in her sleep and he looked down, watching the frown on her face. She'd had nightmares ever since he had known her and after what he knew he would be unsurprised if she never slept soundly again. He'd had dreams of his own, nightmares about darkspawn rising which he never thought he could get away from.

He glanced up as the mibari started barking, not snarling, but barking loud enough to make her stir a little. 'I'll go check.' He said softly before she could get fully awake, letting murmur something rambly at him before turning over and drifting off to sleep. He smiled and kissed her forehead before going to check on the hound. It was barking at the rooftop of one of the tiny houses in the thaig and he crossed over to him. 'Quiet, you'll wake the neighbours.' He said and the dog turned to bark at him, wagging his tail.

He heard a light noise behind him and then a slight pressure against his ribs. 'And that is how we kill a king.' The lilting accent from behind made him relax a little. 'Strangely, that always seems to work in Antiva too. Except about now they would be offering the crows more money than his rival, I am disappointed I don't get the same sort of respect from your majesty.' Alistair smiled faintly.

'If you were going to kill me it would have happened during that landsmeet last year.' He noted.

'Maybe I consider my position in the court more lucrative than simply setting up shop for myself. Besides, they can only offer me money, there are so many more worthwhile things to be plucked if you have the opportunity.' Alistair reached around and pushed the dagger away from his ribs.

'You mean that nobles daughter that I had to provide dowry for last year?' he raised an eyebrow.

'She never complained.' He noted and Alistair rolled his eyes. 'So you have come to meet the Paragon? And? How did it go? Was their fighting? Was their long, lingering…' Alistair held up his hand.

'She hit me and yes. Curiosity satisfied?'

'Come now, you know me better than that.' Zevren said with a smirk. 'Is she here?'

'You mean you didn't listen for her breathing whilst you had your ear against the walls?' He asked and the elf grinned faintly. 'She's here, she's asleep.' Zevren raised his eyebrow and remained silent, which only goes to prove that sometimes people can surprise you. 'It's been… weird.'

'Well you should have stayed in practice whilst she was away.' Zevren smirked and Alistair resisted the urge to hit him, but only partly because he was sure it wouldn't land. 'So what's the problem?' Alistair hesitated, the elf was his best friend right now, as scary as that thought might be in the daylight, down here it meant he could be trusted.

He sat down on the front stoop of the building and gestured that Zevren should join him. 'Long story, let me give you the highlights. When she left, she was pregnant.' The elf tilted his head, less surprised by that than Alistair was. 'However, on the tower…' He paused, he didn't know about the bargain with Morrigan. 'When she killed the arch demon, the soul passed into the baby.' The elf blinked.

'And this is why she lived when it was believed she would die?' Alistair couldn't out right say the word and make it a lie, so instead he shrugged. 'The child?'

Alistair looked away for a time, explaining this to someone else was a terrible burden but away from her presence he could allow himself to be a little broken by it. 'A girl, a Halfling.' He hesitated. 'The soul of the arch demon, a darkspawn.'

The elf sucked in a breath at that. 'Isn't that what you tried to prevent? The soul of the arch demon getting into a darkspawn?' Alistair stared at him blankly. 'I mean, doesn't the demon just use the new body? I thought that's why we needed grey wardens, to accept the soul and die?' Alistair's brain began ticking away.

'Well, yes.' There was a long pause as the two men looked for each other.

'So, the darkspawn, arch demon daughter of yours. Where might she be?' Zevren asked with feigned casualness, leaning back against the wall.

'She's dead.' Alistair said bluntly.

'I am sorry for your loss.' The crow said by rote. 'So, the arch demon's soul that was inside your daughter now jumped to the nearest darkspawn?' Alistair was silent and then he swore. Then he swore again, stringing together several epithets that Zevren had taught him over the years. 'Not to interrupt your rather impressive display, but how did she die? Somewhere around Orzammer?'

Alistair buried his head into his hands. 'On the dark roads, she thinks she was left on the dark roads, for being a darkspawn.' He mumbled to the elf.

Zevren sniffed as if he had just caught the scent of something he didn't like, his nose wrinkling in distaste. 'For the darkspawn to eat?' He asked. 'Do darkspawn kill their own?'

'Stop Zev, just stop.' He moaned softly, trying to scour the picture that the elf was painting from his brain. To his credit the elf stopped, which was strange because Alistair had always pegged him as rather gloaty. After a few minutes he raised his head and looked at the door to her home. 'What if it's true? What if instead of saving everyone we just condemned them to the second blight in a decade?' He asked.

'Well, at least you would be more prepared this time. Maybe get more grey wardens to travel around and pick up random strangers to fight to the death with. We could do that again too, it would be fun.' Zevren observed, the tone of his voice a bit of an enigma as to whether he was serious or not.

They sat together in silence for a while longer. 'How do I explain that to her?' He asked under his breath.

The elf sighed. 'Well that I do not know. Whilst my own upbringing leaves me a little distant to the idea of children I can see how she would be unsettled by the idea. A little. She's quite brave.' Alistair gave a wry chuckle at that and looked at Zevren, allowing himself a moment to be comforted by the idea. 'So a blight.' He rubbed his hands together with a smile on his face.


	6. Chapter 6

The two men sat quietly whilst the dog bounded about between them, chasing rocks for entertainment, because if there was one thing dwarves had lots of, it was rocks. The door opposite them slammed opened and the clatter of armour moved at a run as the dwarf barrelled across the stone floor, belting on her sword. She skidded to a stop as she saw them both. 'Zev?' She asked in shock and the elf grinned for a moment, giving a little wave and she shook herself. 'Arm yourselves, we've got to run.'

'What? Why?' Alistair asked as he got to his feet to go and strap on his armour.

She looked at him as if he was insane. 'You can't feel that?' She demanded and he paused, still for a moment. Just on the edge of his perception he could feel the darkspawn.

'You can feel that in your sleep?' He asked in surprise and then paused again as more and more darkspawn began to touch the periphery of his senses. 'Maker.' He breathed and looked at Zevran with wide eyes, the elf looked unimpressed. 'We've got to get out of here.' He said, running inside the house to pull on his armour.

'So what exactly are we running from?' He could hear Zevran ask her.

'Darkspawn, hundreds and hundreds of them.' She said, looking around.

'Hundreds? So, blight proportions wouldn't you say.' She turned and looked at the elf with something like a sick look and then turned to glance at the door Alistair had gone into. 'Ah, I had wondered if you already figured it out.' The dwarf closed her eyes.

'He told you.' She took a breath, the look of anguish that passed across her features for a moment. 'I was never sure.' She admitted under her breath, not wanting Alistair to hear. 'We've got to get to Orzammar.'

'And say what?' She shrugged and stopped talking as Alistair came out of the house.

'This way.' She said, running towards a side passage neither of them had noticed before, the dog running ahead. 'By the stone, there's thousands of them.' Alistair knew that she had become more attuned to them on the dark roads and that whilst the horde of them he could feel was terrifying enough he didn't want to think about what she could feel. The four of them dived through a narrow tunnel and he felt his helmet dent as he hit his head on the top of the cave. He heard Zevran's mocking laugh for just a second until there was a growl carried on the air from behind. They put their energy into running, the small tunnel letting off into the deep roads by Ozammar. The fall from the tunnel exit was twice Alistair's own height and yet still he made the most noise as he clambered down.

Alistair held his hand over his nose as they went through the lyrium mines, sprinting for his life, feeling how his lungs expanded brutally to try and suck enough oxygen down into his body to keep it working. Running in armour was not pretty and he was out of his fighting shape, the only thing keeping him moving was the desire to not be mocked by Zevran tonight.

'We're nearly there.' Sereda called from the front, barely out of breath. The miners they saw stared at them as they passed. 'Darkspawn!' She bellowed to them and they stared for a second before they started running towards the exit. They hit the tiled floor of the city with a mob of tired and scared miners at their heels. 'We've got to seal the mine.' Sereda ordered after a second of catching her breath.

'But that's our main lyrium mine.' Came a protest from the foreman.

'That's an order from your Paragon.' She demanded and Alistair blinked at the authority in her tone, noting that, as always, it exceeded his. In a way he was still glad of it. 'You, go and tell King Harrowmont that we should ready our warriors for defence.' She barked.

Alistair knew there was nothing he could do except watch and organise, as a grey warden he had some authority here, so he over saw the miners, leaving her to organise her own people. It took a minute or two for the miners to get their explosives in place. Something harsh was yelled out in dwarfish and he assumed it meant 'fire in the hole' because he was nearly knocked off his feet by the blast. The whole world around him shook and cracks began to radiate from the mine hole as it collapsed in on itself.

There was absolute silence for several minutes as the echo of the blast resounded across the plaza and he took a second to relax. Then the roars of outrage started to be heard. 'Stand your ground.' Her voice rang out above all others. 'There are still darkspawn behind that barricade, hold your position.' Then he could feel them. The darkspawn.

They seemed to slowly fill his senses until his brains was like a screaming sea of red anger and black hate. He swallowed, exchanging a glance with her. 'I've got to speak to the king.' She said and then shook her head. 'There's so many of them.'

'And it's such a small barrier.' He nodded. 'Let's go.'


	7. Chapter 7

Note ~ Short chapter for now, should be a slightly longer one soon :)

'There's thousands of them.' She said seriously. 'An army and that wall won't hold them for long.'

'I don't understand.' Harrowmont looked at them both. 'How did this happen?' Alistair shook his head, the man really had no clue.

'The baby.' He said simply and the king looked chastened for a second. 'We suspect that instead of Sereda dying from the arch demon it leapt into the baby instead. When she died…' He trailed off and looked at the king who stared at them both.

'I didn't know.' He said after a moment.

'None of us did.' She said quietly, the tone of her voice pained, Alistair quietly reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder, wanting to comfort her. 'If I had known I would have done my duty.'

'There's enough blame on all sides without swimming in grief yourself.' Alistair said, he would be damned if he allowed her to appropriate any more blame than she already had. 'The darkspawn are being controlled by an arch demon, no matter it's origin. This time they have decided to swarm Orzammar.' The King paled. 'There's more down there every minute. We might have to consider the worst.'

'Darkspawn knocking on my door? What could be the worst?' The King demanded.

'We may have to evacuate Orzammar.' She stood up. 'I suggest all battle ready dwarva prepare for the battle to protect the city. The rest need to go to the surface.'

'Are you mad? They cannot go for the surface!' The King's voice was authoritative. 'They would become surfacers, our noble houses cannot abandon the stone.' He stood up. 'I cannot make that command.'

'You could if you were willing to relax that caste system you're so fond of.' She snapped and suddenly there was more tension in the room than he had first realised. 'If we don't stop them here and now then we're as good as lost.' They had obviously had this discussion before.

'You do not rule here Paragon. If you become Queen then you can do things your way.' His voice was sharp.

'At least let the Dusters fight. It's their home too.'

'It would be an insult to the Paragons…' He began.

'I'm right here.' She snapped. 'The same as I was last time. I say let them fight, again.'

'What about the warrior caste, it would be an embarrassment.' The severity of his tone suggested he would brook no nonsense about this. Alistair realised he would probably never understand dwarves.

'Embarrassment, won't kill them. Being overwhelmed by darkspawn will.' She snarled, standing up and slamming her hands on the table.

'The answer is no.' The old man's eyes glittered hard. 'Dusters will not fight with our warriors and I will not evacuate our people.' She gazed into the old man's eyes, a battle of wills taking place that he could almost see.

'Then I shall do what I must.' She said simply. 'As a grey warden and as a Paragon.' He could see her shaking a little as she turned and walked out of the room. Alistair followed her and put his hand on her shoulder after the door had shut behind them, she turned her eyes on him. 'They're doomed aren't they?' She asked him quietly and Alistair was silent for a long moment, feeling the darkspawn bubbling below the surface.

'They…' He trailed off and shrugged. 'They don't have enough men.' He stated simply. 'Even taking into account that they know more about fighting darkspawn than any other race.' She closed her eyes, it wasn't what she had wanted to hear. 'What do you intend to do?' He asked gently.

'Save those that can be saved.' He nodded. 'You can feel them? I'm not just imagining it?' She asked a little plaintively.

'Not as much as you can, but yes, an army. I will do whatever you need me to.' He said simply. 'And I will pay Zev whatever I need to, to get him to do whatever you want him to do.' The smile she gave him was at least something. 'So where first?'

'We speak to the dusters.'


	8. Chapter 8

Zevran found them on their way out of the diamond quarter. 'Quickly, you have to come, there is going to be bloodshed.' He said and began to run towards the side of the concourse.

'Darkspawn?' Alistair asked, following him.

'Worse. Angry dwarves.' He shouted to the man behind him and Alistair couldn't fault his logic looking at the two dwarves he knew well. Three if you included Shale. They slowed when they saw a company of dwarves standing at arms at the barricaded door to dust town.

'What in the Ancestor's name is going on here?' Sereda demanded, hearing the bangs and shouting coming from behind the door. The warriors looked a little embarrassed, like their mother had caught them with their pants around their ankles and a strange girl in their laps.

'We were instructed to barricade the doors to dust town to keep the brands away whilst we deal with the darkspawn threat.' The dwarf with the most beaten armour, in dwarven cases that usually meant they were in charge, experience was inversely proportional to polish down here. He watched her as she processed his words and tried to draw a conclusion.

'Arrange your company behind me, weapons ready but not threatening and then open the door.' She said, Alistair exchanged a glance with Zevran who nodded once, taking up position to one side of her. Alistair knew that the first person to attack her would be taken care of before he could blink a second time.

The company warily arranged itself around them and Alistair marvelled a little about how the dwarves listened to their Paragons even above their king. The banging on the door got steadily worse until she nodded and the giant bolts were unfastened. They were far enough away to not get caught up in the initial wave of bodies that spilled out of the door. The fear in their eyes at being locked in made him feel slightly sickened. 'Halt in the name of your Paragon.' One of the guards bellowed and Alistair saw her eyes tighten a little around the corners.

The name of Paragon even carried some weight with the dusters and they hesitated. 'My people, I shall be brief.' She started, her voice carrying. 'The King's armies are about to face a darkspawn horde that is coming up through the lyrium mines. My suggestions to evacuate Orzammar or to allow you to fight with the warriors has fallen on deaf ears.'

'We can't evacuate!' A female dwarf cried out in horror. 'Where would we go? We'd lose touch with the stone.'

'I am not asking you to do anything. I am here to provide facts and possible solutions.' There was a rumbling noise in the crowd of dwarves and after a moment they parted, to let through a man who Alistair thought he might recognise. 'Rogek?' She said and then nodded. 'It has been a long time.'

'Long enough. Godwin sends his regards.' She smiled faintly and nodded for him to continue. 'I can't claim to speak for the rest of us, but I will listen.' His voice seemed to calm the mob of dwarves somewhat and Alistair placed him as something to do with lyrium but not quite sure.

'Thank you. The darkspawn are coming, in significant enough quantities that I am certain the warriors will be overwhelmed.' She began and the crowd muttered.

'Then we fight, this is our home too.' A male voice sounded from the crowd, she closed her eyes momentarily.

'You are not allowed to fight alongside the warriors, I have tried to ask for this but I was denied.' She took a breath, glancing at Alistair for a moment. 'You can certainly try and defend dust town when they come.' She did not say 'if', because 'if' implied she was not sure and, from what Alistair felt beneath him, Orzammar being overwhelmed was a certainty. 'However, I do not think you will be successful.'

'And the other option?' Rogek asked. 'Are you suggesting we leave Orzammar? We have business enterprises here to maintain.'

'I would imagine your businesses are moot when you are dead.' Zevran said idly, looking around. 'It is a shame, it is a nice city.'

'So there is no chance, except to go to the surface?'

'There is always a chance, no matter how slim. Yet right now we are nugs coming up to a feast day.' Her pretty face was tight with the stress she was under. 'I am a Paragon, my duty is to the dwarves, whatever dwarves I can save. I am your Paragon, I ask you to leave your home that is the only one you know until I am sure Orzammar can be made safe again.' There was muttering.

'You have no hope for Orzammar's survival at all?' She closed her eyes and Alistair knew she was reaching out for the darkspawn, slowly she shook her head.

'In life, hope. But in battle we must have sense.' There was silence.

'You think all the nobles will die?' Someone asked and there was an oddly pleased muttering. 'How would the city be run?'

'That is something we must figure out when these tumultuous times have passed. You do not have long to make your choice, those that wish to leave, present yourselves with your possessions in twenty minutes and we will begin.' The crowd seemed to disperse into a dazed stupor, languidly flowing away as if slowly rising to consciousness from a year long torpor.

'Where are you taking them?' Alistair asked and she glanced up.

'Warden's keep. There's five grey wardens there right now and caves dot that mountainside for them to stay until they are accustomed to this.' She swallowed, looking up at him and then Zevran.

'You're in contact with the warden's still?' Alistair was startled by that admission, he had signed some paperwork about them but since becoming king the grey wardens seemed to decide to take care of themselves in order to remain neutral, despite having a king on the throne.

She hesitated and glanced at him. 'I am, technically, in charge of the Warden's of Fereldan.' He stared at him before blinking.

'How is it possible that I didn't know about that?' He demanded, a little scowl on his face, noting the look she gave the elf, who returned a shrug.

'She is the only Warden of Fereldan blood still. The only one not otherwise occupied.' Zevran said and Alistair frowned at him. 'It was one note here and there, a changed name once or twice, not a terribly hard thing to cover up. Besides, it was after a blight, you are allowed to have some years to recover.'

'You've been…' Alistair stared at him for a long moment and the elf looked a little abashed, only a little because it wasn't something the elf felt often.

'I occasionally, when not playing with the minds of your courtiers, take on small side jobs from the wardens. That time I disappeared for three weeks, well, I ended up in Haven with… no, no, that is perhaps a story for another time.'

'I heard about that.' Sereda said. 'I didn't know you could do that with nettles.' The elf gave her a wry smile.

'I can't believe you kept that a secret from me, I'm your king.' Alistair wasn't really offended, it was just the principle of the thing.

'I am pretty certain that my king is Antivan. Of course, my kings also tend to get assassinated a lot. Do you truly want to be my King? I can always assassinate you later if you so desire, I think we are about to have some refugees to take on and getting them off you once they have latched is a full time job.'


	9. Chapter 9

The company of warrior caste stretched from the end of the commons to the beginning of dust town in two lines. The dusters came slowly at first, in ones and twos, their shabby clothing and meagre pouches of food a testament to the caste system. Alistair watched her as she stood on top of one of the great stone plinths, seeing her great home falling apart before her eyes. She could hide her pain through anger when she spoke to you, but when the world was quiet and all that remained was a rote task, you could see the yawning chasm that echoed in her soul.

He wanted to comfort her, but he knew that any gentle words of his would not only be a lie but she could not use them, she never had. In all their time together she had always seen into the depths of his heart, beyond his words. She turned and looked at him for a moment, seeing his gaze on her and he wondered what thought had prompted her to seek him in that moment. He expected a false smile but she only gave him a look of utter desolation and he knew her heart. There would be no hiding her pain from him anymore, she'd seen too much to be able to mask it.

Alistair looked up at the sound of the shouting. Zevran was running interference between the dusters and the warriors at the mine entrance, keeping the groups separate as much as possible, his silver tongue doing as much as any sword could ever do. The bigger groups started coming, the wealthier members, if they could be called such, with items that could be sold in the future, the members of the carta perhaps. She would have to deal with that before they reached Warden's peak and he would have to alert Denerim to take any over flow. The stream of refugees stopped somewhere up ahead and then they began to back up.

'What is going on here?' The demand was imperious and filled with anger, Sereda strained to look at the blockage and began to climb down from the stone. She seemed a little startled when Alistair helped her down but recovered enough to jog towards the source of the shouting. Harrowmont stood with a company of his warriors, blocking the exit. 'I should have known you were behind this.' The acid in his tone came from a long seated bile he had been keeping inside for too long. He wondered how much of their conversation earlier had come from the desire to make Sereda disappear back to the surface where she could stop interfering. 'What is going on?'

'You will not evacuate so I am.' She said calmly to him, the tone of her voice only served to make the king more irate.

'You do know about the darkspawn army about to fall on us, in fact you were the one that told me about it. Now isn't the time to make a power play of your own.' He snarled at her in the calmest voice he had ever heard from someone who looked like he was boiling on the inside.

'This isn't a power play, I am trying to save my people, the people you are condemning to death.' The warriors behind Harrowmont began to shift slightly, a little uneasy at that assessment.

'This city has never fallen.' Harrowmont asserted.

'That doesn't mean it cannot, we became too complacent.'

'You brought this down on all of us.' He accused and there was a murmuring amongst the dusters, you just didn't talk like that to a Paragon, they didn't care who you were.

'I think that there is equal blame to go around, I'm not pointing fingers but I am not going to accept this all on my head either.' Only Alistair could know that her words came from a wounded mother trying to make her world make sense again.

'We do not have the man power to spare escorting the dusters from the city, they should be locked up as ordered.' Alistair almost grimaced at that, as a king you had to make some unpopular choices, but mentioning them in front of the people you were wronging seemed like remarkably bad politics. The dusters shared his opinion and even with their weak training began to form into loose ranks, he could see the bezerkers in the group near flipping that switch in their heads.

'Then don't spare your men, just let these people go and they will not bother you any further.'

'You're just like Bhelen.' Alistair watched in fascination as the world seemed to slow down. The crash of the shield as it hit Harrowmont's face could be felt down his spine. The collective whisper of drawn weapons from the dusters behind him gave him chills.

'I am nothing like Bhelen. You would do well to remember that. That's why you are still alive after that comment.' Her voice was silky smooth, dangerous and dark, the warriors didn't seem to know where to put their faces as their King pulled himself off the floor.

'Arrest her.' He snarled.

'I am their Paragon, King Harrowmont, I am also a princess from the royal house of Aeducan. These people are under my protection, they are leaving the city.' Her words were quiet, only loud enough that only the first line of each group could hear. She walked over to the warriors. 'Let them pass.' There was silence for a moment and then the clatter of metal as the dwarves began to step aside. She didn't look back as she strode past the army, trusting the dusters to follow her and he knew that she had won their hearts and minds in this.

There was no interference from the King after that, however a large group of the merchant and smith classes began to arrive, asking to join the evacuation. Sereda had organised the surfacers to begin to lead them to Soldier's peak, another group were sent to Denerim, Redcliffe and the Mage's tower. 'So what happens now?' He asked her after another hour of the darkspawn numbers growing in fury beneath the surface. 'With us?'

'I don't want to abandon Orzammar, this is my home.' She said softly, he heard the regret in her words but also the resolve. She knew that she had no choice in this and Alistair squeezed her shoulder gently, there could be no more physical comfort than this. Her people needed to see her as strong. 'We stay to the last.' She swallowed. 'And then we lock the doors.' Alistair sucked in a breath and then shook her head.

'It will not take darkspawn long to get through the main door once they control Orzammar.' He said seriously.

'We need the time to get away with as many as possible.' She closed her eyes. 'If they catch up with us on the road…' She trailed off and shook her head and looked at the refugees trailing back towards dust town.

Alistair stood watch over the tail end of the refugees when all the dwarves in his vicinity seemed to pause and look around. It took him more than a few moments before he sensed what they were feeling, the ground around them vibrating with a sharp rhythm. A crack appeared in the rock ahead of him and the dwarves began to run. 'Sereda!' He called her name desperately, trying to find where she had gone.

'Alistair!' She called his name and he turned, seeing her running towards him in a pack of dusters trying to make it to the exit. The crack that appeared between them made his heart sink. The floor seemed to ripple and then a giant boulder hurled itself from the ground, smashing open a hole in the stone, shattering the world between them. Giant purple hands began clawing at the broken floor, pulling chunks down into a pit.

'Ogres! Run!' The dwarves didn't need telling twice, pulling themselves from where they had taken cover and trying to dodge the cracks appearing in the floor across the commons. The second boulder that was hurled through the ground to break through the floor landed next to him, sending him sprawling to the ground. He looked up, hearing the cries of the dwarves. 'The darkspawn! They come from below! Darkspawn!'

Sereda backed away from the pit, looking around her with a horrified expression as it began to widen. Hands rode from the hole, grabbing hold of ankles that were to close, pulling the dwarves into the tunnel that had been created and the screams rose further. Alistair grunted as he tried to struggle to his feet. 'Sereda!' She looked up at him, her eyes going round and she opened her mouth to call out warning. He turned without thinking, his sword slicing through the chest of the genlock that had come from a pit that had opened behind him. He turned back as it died. 'No!' He screamed as she completed her run and jumped from the edge of the pit, trying to get onto his side.

She barely landed and Alistair got to his feet, running towards her as the ground beneath her gave way. She fell hard, her chest hitting the stone floor in front of her and she grasped for purchase. He skidded along the floor, grabbing her elbow, steadying his body with his feet and began to yank her from the pit. Her feet scrabbling at the empty air beneath her and she screamed as a giant hand rose from the pit, yanking at her armour with unnatural strength as an ogre head appeared over the precipice. She screamed as it began to squeeze on her, Alistair couldn't let go to attack and her own weapons were gone.

He gazed into her eyes, he couldn't lose her again. 'No!' He howled in pain. He felt something come flying over his shoulders, hitting the ogre in the face. The ogre screamed in pain and let go of her to get the sharp pain from it's flesh. The elf delivered the killing blow, the dagger straight through the top of it's brain case. It fell backwards, Zevran clutching the creature as he fell into darkness.


	10. Chapter 10

The world had fallen away and all there was could be summed up with noise and fear and hate. 'Zevran!' He fought with her, her screams pierced the mist that had crept into his mind and he struggled to focus. She was trying to claw her way back to the pit.

'We have to go!' He shouted over the noise of screaming, his head panned around to find a safe spot, across the lava pools he could see rocks shattering the walls and he heard the screaming of the warriors. 'We have to go, he's gone now!'

'We can't…' He interrupted him.

'He's gone!' He tried pulling her to her feet, seeing the dwarves around them, trying to fight their way from the crumbling floors. She sagged against him and he looked down as her leg gave out, he cursed as he looked up, there were darkspawn between him and the exit, but not so many and they would not bring him down, not when he had to save her. He knelt and pulled her onto his back. 'Hold on.' He shouted to her as her arms tightened reflexively around his neck. He dropped his sword, keeping only his shield, there was no time to stand and fight. 'Run for it!' He commanded the dwarves, rising powerfully to slam a shield into a Hurlock's mid section, flinging him to one side and leaving the way clear.

He roared in anger as he made his stampede towards the exit hall. His long legs easily out striding the dwarves and he danced between the cracks appearing in the floor. He could feel her slipping, her arms applying more pressure to his throat so he struggled for breath. He reached behind him with his free hand and yanked her leg upwards to relieve the pressure. She screamed in agony and he felt her arms loosen a little more. 'Stay conscious!' He bellowed back at her and she struggled for a second before jamming her hands between the sections of his breastplate. He heard her whimper of pain but he knew that if she passed out now they might not make it out together.

Three darkspawn. Five. Eight. Each one charged at with rage, forcing them out of his way to be finished off by a passing dwarven axes. As he rounded the corner towards the bridge he could see the back lines of Harrowmont's army as a pit opened behind them and more Genlocks got into their backs, blood spattering across the floor in thick wet splats. A horn sounded from somewhere as he fled into the ancestors hall. 'The doors, get the doors.' Her voice was sharp as she shouted, a dwarf stabbed a knife into a genlock and kicked it away so it's blood trail made a slick over the commons floor.

'The doors!' He shouted, staring down the corridor towards the proving grounds, the doors there flexed and shattered. Clawed purple hand twisted the metal and yanked them off their hinges. The ogre looked around as it came onto the central bridge, spying them in the distance and began to run at the full tilt, bloody savagery in it's roar. 'Shut the doors!' He shouted again, moving to help the dwarves push them shut, they slid the barricade in place and a few seconds later the doors buckled as the ogre hit the thick metal.

'We've got to get through the last doors.' Sereda said tiredly into his ear. 'I can seal the stone doors from the outside.'

'Dwarves made it so they could be sealed in?' Alistair asked, but didn't question her as the small group of stragglers followed him to the exit. There were still many dwarves waiting outside, archers at the ready and he stopped. 'We're sealing the doors.' He told them.

'What about the dwarves inside?'

'Not a chance.' A dwarf next to him said. 'They were surrounded.' Then he began pushing the heavy stone closed. There was a shocked silence before the other dwarves began to help.

'Help me Alistair.' She said, unstitching herself from his armour and he saw the bruises that were beginning to redden her hands. 'I need Lyrium.' He blinked at her.

He turned. 'We need lyrium, someone must have bought some to sell on, I will pay you for it once we get to warden's keep.' He said to the dwarves and after a moment one came forward to hand his over. 'Why lyrium?' He asked her after a moment, helping her towards the door.

'So only a dwarf can seal these doors.' She said and he looked down, her legs wasn't dislocated nor broken but she couldn't put pressure on it. 'It's something our people did long ago, only the royal house knows how.' She took a knife from her boot and sliced open her hand, squeezing it so it was covered in her blood, then she poured the lyrium over her hand. In a human or an elf, lyrium poisoning would be almost instant, but she had the dwarven tenacity and resistance. Still he was glad it was processed lyrium, unprocessed lyrium turned even dwarves funny in the head. She reached up and began to paint the mixture into some grooves on the door. It began to glow in a strange purple light, she stood back and then there was a bright flash and the doors, carved from the stone long ago, were now returned to a part of the rock face. The mountain was sealed. 'It will not hold them forever.' She said, taking a deep breath as she sat wordlessly on the steps, looking at her people, who stared at her, expecting more.

'Now we leave for Warden's keep.' He said to them, if she couldn't lead them right now then he would have to. 'Once there we can make our strategy with the Wardens on how to get Orzammar back.' Wordlessly he passed his shield to a dwarf and knelt in front of Sereda. 'Let's see what we can do with your leg at the first rest stop.' He said, lifting her and clasping his hands behind her back so she would be in as little pain as possible. 'Let's go.

*

They had bandaged her leg tightly, not knowing what was wrong with it exactly and Alistair hoped there was someone with magical healing waiting for them at the keep. At the first rest stop he had stripped her of all her armor so he only had to carry her in her padded underclothes. He'd also taken a look at the bruising that the ogre had done to her back and legs, it was a wonder she'd not been shredded, if her armor had been lighter it was a possibility.

She was alert enough to take the healing poultices he had without choking too badly but she fell asleep as they walked, her head on his shoulder, cradled in place by her arms around his neck. He was beginning to feel that he was too out of shape for this, the road was muddy, churned up by a thousand dwarves running for their lives and it was difficult to walk. Still there were none of those random encounters you generally got whilst travelling, there were far too many in his group to find trouble.

Still finding a campsite was difficult when you have around seventy people to consider. They eventually found an open grassland surrounded by a small woodland where they could get enough material for some fires.

The mood in the camp was subdued as they sat around the fires, he could hear someone weeping quietly not so far away from him. He set up some watch rotations, what he wouldn't give for Sten or Shale around, hell, even Oghren knew the score at times like these. All he wanted was just tonight where these people could be free of the darkspawn, they would have to deal with enough in their dreams.

He walked over to the small canvas sheet that had been pegged taut, they didn't have much, but the dusters had donated them some bedding for the time being. The thing he had to remember was that these people were not afraid of hard work, that they just needed a helping hand. It brought to mind that he should really do more for the elves. He sat down on the blankets and stroked her long dark hair from her forehead. Her eyes opened immediately, she had never slept in camp when there was something on her mind. 'How are you doing?' He asked softly.

She looked up at him with doe like brown eyes and then shook her head, burying her face into the blankets for a second. 'It's all my fault.' She said listlessly. 'I made the pact with Morrigan, I should have died at Fort Drakon.' Alistair closed his eyes. 'Then all this would have been avoided.'

'Until the next time.' He said and he could feel her still. 'You're a Grey Warden. This is a cycle, you know that. The cycle simply rolled around faster this time.' He murmured.

She was very quiet. 'Do you remember my joining.' She asked gently and looked up at him. How could he forget, he'd only been at two and hers had been the worst. 'Do you remember Daveth?' She asked and he hesitated before reaching around her neck to the pendant that carried the blood from her joining.

'I remember.' He said gently and looked into her eyes.

She nodded. 'He told Jory that he would willingly give more than his life to end the Blight. Do you remember?' She asked.

'I also remember that you agreed with him.'

'Well of course I did.' She sighed. 'Because at that point what did I have to live for? I was an exile, one that should have been lost to the deep roads. There was nothing else left to lose.' She sat up gingerly and he put his arm around her, pulling her against him to try and soothe her. 'Even after the battle, even with Flemeth, I wouldn't say I had a death wish, but I had no reason to…' She swallowed. 'But that changed. It was slow at first but as they started to join our group I found a reason to keep on going in each one of them. A little spark of something.'

'That's good. I'm glad they made such an impact.' He said seriously.

'I think the first time I realised that I was trying to save the world for all of you was when Sten told me he liked cookies…' She smiled at the memory to herself. 'I guess that's not important. Yet, after it ended I lost them all anyway.' She shook her head. 'I'm beginning to wonder that I didn't allow all this to happen to get them all back again. Because with the baby… I'm smarter than that.' The mask that dampened her emotions cracked and her face crumpled. 'It's my fault he's dead.'

Wordlessly he drew her to him, his voice soft and gentle, rocking her as she wept. She had been the best of them all and now she had said it he could see how she came alive when the others had been around. When they had started out he had watched her in the night, partly because she was pretty but mostly because she stared at the stars with such sadness. As the camp had become busier her mood had lightened and he had fallen in love with her. She had saved the world for them and she would have to save it again.


	11. Chapter 11

The world was hazy as he desperately tried to stay unconscious, he'd been hurt before, he'd been hurt a lot, but it wasn't anything quite like this. His body burnt from the inside, wounds screamed at him, calling for attention. He tried to open his eyes yet his face was so swollen he could only open them a crack. The world around him glowed orange and the cold stone beneath his body cooled the fever a little. There were feet in front of him, sandals, simple leather soles tied up the legs with thin strips of thong. The legs and feet were dirty and splashed with blood.

Someone was talking above him and he struggled to listen and his heart sank, he didn't understand the language but he heard the gruff throaty grunting of darkspawn. Why wasn't he dead, they couldn't be keeping him alive because of his pretty face. Well they could but he didn't really like to think about it. He was too hot, his body was in too much pain to stay awake. So when he was yanked upright he passed out.

He drifted in and out of consciousness, he was occasionally fed healing poultices, feeling the warming magic keep the burning at bay for a little while each time. When he woke there was a wet cloth on his head and his eyes had become less swollen. The world around him was darkened and he could feel the presence of someone opposite him. He turned his head slowly, the cloth falling from his brow as he started back. The Hurlock stared at him with hungry eyes but wordlessly stood and left the room.

Zevran grunted as he tried to push himself up. Well there was the answer as to the question if he could escape. He couldn't move two feet upwards very well how was he supposed to stealth out? He wasn't about to question why he was alive, he was, that was enough, where there was life there was hope.

He recognised the place but he couldn't quite think enough to put a place to a name. The door opened to the large area and he turned. She walked through the door in semi darkness, silhouetted for a moment by the orange light outside and watched him for a moment before turning and snarling something to the creatures outside. She shut the door behind her and crossed over to him fluidly, there was something almost boneless about her, she didn't move, she flowed. Of course, it didn't matter how injured you were, look at a woman like that and you would wonder all sorts of things you shouldn't.

'You elf.' She said, her words were harsh and difficult to understand, she swallowed vowels and her speech was reminiscent of a language he had heard too often. The blood in his veins seemed to burn hotter as she approached and he gave a soft whimper. 'You know… the paragon.' His head hurt as he tried to process her words, she didn't let him think. Her fingers twisted into a bite on his chest and she pulled, tearing the flesh, her skin made his blood scream in protest, his brain burning with the touch of her.

'Yes!' He screamed unwilling and she let go of him. He panted and she reached out to a chest, pulling out a healing poultice and uncorking it. She jammed the open end into his mouth, pulling his head back so he had to swallow. He felt the magic run through him and he wilted against the bench. 'Yes, I know your mother.' She gazed down hard at him for a long second before licking her finger and rubbing her saliva against the open wound. He clenched his jaw against the sudden pain that began to flare hotter and hotter. His body began to shake from the agony of it, he wasn't thinking anymore, all that was left of him screamed to simply hold on. The knife digging out a divot of burning flesh was a welcome relief after that. He watched it as she cast it to the floor, the little lump of flesh blackening and shrivelling. He trembled.

'My mother. She is no dwarf thing.' The words were sharp and discordant to a normal speaking voice. 'Paragon left me for my mother.'

'No, she did not, she…' He was interrupted by a mocking laughter, which was probably good because he wasn't sure how to end that sentence. She turned again and looked down at him. He was struck by how she looked so much like her mother, only taller. The round cherubic face with large eyes, dark hair cut short, off her face. The eyes were Alistair's though, by all rights a monstrous inside should be seen from the outside yet she looked merely curious.

'They took me to mother. She made me grow and be strong.' She walked, no flowed, across the room and closed her eyes. Something black flitted into the corner of his vision, sliding itself around the girls waist and then another over her shoulder. She leant into the tentacles and she was gently lifted from the floor, cradled tenderly. 'Mother speaks. Tells me of dwarves. Teaches me words.'

'And very fine words they are too.' He said and her eyes snapped open to look at him. 'For a three year old.' She looked at him quizzically for a moment and then cocked her head as if listening.

'She calls this mockery. That you should die for it.' She was lowered back to the ground. 'They are so hungry. I am so hungry.' She crossed the floor to him, the armour she wore was leather, she obviously didn't fight enough to need her mother's equipment. 'She wants me to eat you.'

'Well, far be it from me to spoil dinner.' He said, feeling a bead of sweat form on his brow as she got close enough to start his blood burning again.

'I have plans.' She whispered to him softly stroking her finger down his cheek.

'Plans that involve me?' He questioned, knowing he probably didn't want to know the answer for this.

'You die.' She said softly. 'Your blood is tainted.' She murmured, almost lovingly. 'The others said I hurt. I was near. I hurt.' She smiled, there was a little joy in that. 'But you can be saved.' Her eyes were fixed onto his. 'This was our home, in the dark roads, until the dwarves stole it. We took it back. It is ours. We will be left alone. The Paragon and the King must be told.' Zevran was pretty sure that neither wanted to hear this. 'They can save you.'

'And if I do not want to be saved?' He asked her seriously.

'Only you can come back.' She said. 'You talk. To me. We desire life. Not die. My people. Mine.' He hesitated.

'I think I understand.' He said seriously. 'What should I call you?'

She frowned at that question, cocking her head to one side, listening for a moment. 'They call me Rmva.' She smiled at the growl that came out of her mouth. 'The baby.'


	12. Chapter 12

She didn't sleep. Not ever. Sometimes she spent hours curled up in the tentacles of the brood mother, but at his slightest movement her eyes snapped open. She had a temper too, he didn't know what the hurlocks that came to her had done but he wasn't sure that they had the intelligence to understand why she killed them. His blood burnt hot in his veins, the potions were fed to him every few hours now and it only kept the burning away a short time now.

She was almost gentle with him at times and he wasn't sure if that was a part of her humanity or because she saw a use for him. She stared at him whilst he slept sometimes, incredibly creepy in fact. 'You know nice girls don't watch their captives whilst they sleep.' He murmured tiredly.

'I am not nice.' She noted to him. 'I am an arch demon.' Her language was coming on a little now, she had told him a great deal about her life when she was growing in the dark roads, he couldn't call it growing up because she asserted that she had been conscious from the time she had been conceived. She had also told him that she had only not torn her way out when she was ready because she knew that her death would come moments later.

'So you are.' He sighed.

'You are still dying.' She noted conversationally and he grunted, it was hard to remain cheerful with her when the burning pain in his blood flared so badly at her approach. 'I have to save you.' She frowned at him, the idea vexed her, he was starting to understand her a little and that made him feel a little uneasy.

'How unfortunate.' He looked at her. 'How did you intend to do that?' She growled a little in her throat. She had poor self control, she'd tortured him a little bit because she wanted to before coming back to herself. Part of him hoped she would end up killing him at those times and only a little bit because he didn't really want to explain to Sereda and Alistair what had happened here.

'I send you to the wardens.' She scowled at him and then smiled faintly as a thought occurred to her. 'My creatures will walk under a white flag as they take you.' It seemed to amuse her.

'I don't think that will work.' He noted. 'Grey wardens are not known for sparing dark spawn.'

'Their mistake.' She said. 'You will come back.' She told him and he chuckled.

'Why should I do that?' He asked.

'I am the first darkspawn willing to discuss my plans.' She narrowed her eyes at him. 'I am the first arch demon with an imagination. I will get you back or I will use it.' She smirked.

'Why me?' He asked even though he knew why, he could be used as a go between with her parents more easily than anyone else. She only smiled.

Walking away from him she touched the tentacle that wrapped around her waist tenderly, in fact her only finer emotion came when she touched the brood mother. 'I will watch your journey.' She said, tapping her forehead. 'But no more talking. You will be gone soon.' She left the room wordlessly and soon after a group of darkspawn entered the room to stare at him for a few minutes before picking him up like a rag doll and tying him to a stretcher. He was too weak to run away so he wondered what was going to happen that needed him tied down.

He was carried out of the darkened room into the glowing cavern and they made their way across the central bridge. He looked around him, catching sight of dwarves chained to the bridge, they looked unharmed but he had the sinking feeling that they were simply there for food. They stared at him as he passed, reminding him so much of Sereda that there was a little twist to his stomach. He saw a large contingent of darkspawn guarding the entrance to the diamond quarter, wondering briefly what they had stashed there before he was taken through the hall. The statues of the paragons had been defiled and broken. All except one.


	13. Chapter 13

The journey to Soldier's Peak had been a long and miserable one, but not because of the weather, the mood of the dwarves had been black and desolate. Sereda had spent several hours each day moving back and forth with their group making sure that everyone had something to eat and wasn't hurt. It was what she had done when there had only been a handful of people in their group only now her group contained several hundred. They'd caught up with two other groups that had set off before them and then a dozen mages on the road that had heard the call to arms and had set off to soldiers peak. All he had hoped was that there was enough food for everyone when they got there.

The keep was full to bursting when they had arrived all the grounds covered with dwarves and communal cook fires. A caravan had arrived from Denerim two days later along with some of his own soldiers. Simple organisation had been on the mind of the Wardens at first, then sending for reinforcements, but above all else disbelief that this was happening again so soon. There was no idea what to do next, they had taken the one city that had never fallen to outside invaders and was now sealed to the world. They had changed their behaviour patterns so drastically.

'We can't storm Orzammar from the front.' Alistair said to them. 'If we go through the dark roads then we only have darkspawn at our backs as well. I think… we may have to accept it as lost for now.' Sereda looked pained, they were only seven wardens right now and they all felt defeated.

'We could blow up the mountain.' Alistair looked up, it was a mage, a new warden and obviously didn't know his job that well yet.

'If there is an arch demon inside and we kill it that way then we just have to do it again the week after.' She said quietly, looking out of the window to the huddled masses. 'I'm not saying it's a bad idea however.' She frowned, her eyes focussing on something in the distance and then hissing under her breath. 'Darkspawn.' She said, grabbing her sword from the table.

'How many?' Alistair asked.

'Ten, maybe twenty.' The grey wardens were a little surprised, they couldn't sense anything, yet they had accepted that being in the dark roads made her sensitive, they just didn't know how much.

The seven wardens left the keep ready for a fight, but also aware that the dwarves having to camp outside the keep might not give them the opportunity. Instead they were greeted with silence as the mass of dwarves stared at the group of darkspawn standing under a tree. The white flag was made out of an old dwarven bed sheet and flapped like a sail in the breeze above their heads.

She moved to the front of the dwarves, Alistair not a step behind her. The Hurlock alpha stepped forward and said something that almost sounded human. 'That's me.' Sereda called back.

'What did he say?' Alistair asked.

'Paragon.' She muttered and stepped forward, Alistair grabbed her arm. 'They're here under a peace banner.' She said to him, peeling his fingers from her arm. 'This is new, we have to at least see what happens.'

The two leaders stepped in front of their band of men and walk towards each other. The rumbling growling voice could be heard from where he stood but the words were difficult to make out. There was a box in his hands, he'd never seen a darkspawn with it's weapons sheathed before but he assumed they must do sometimes. He passed the box to Sereda and she took it, he was thankful she was wearing gloves, you never knew what someone might come up with. 'A. Gift. For. Peace.' The Hurlock said as if her had learnt those words and had been practicing, he turned and nodded to the darkspawn who stepped aside. 'Save. Him.' Was the command and just like that the darkspawn moved away, leaving the body on a stretcher and they began to head into the forest. Next to Alistair someone raised a bow and he reached out to lower it.

'This is new.' He said gently. 'We don't know what will happen if we kill them now. The arch demon can see through their eyes.'

'Zevran!' He was startled by her cry, she had made her way over to the stretcher. 'I need healing magic!' She called and Alistair ran over to her side. The elf had been lashed to the stretcher and he muttered softly as they untied him. 'Zevran. Zev, it's me.' She began talking to him and stroking his face. 'Speak to me.'

His eyes flickered open and he looked into her face for a moment. 'Her best joke yet.' He muttered hoarsely and gave a delirious chuckle before falling back into unconsciousness.

'What's wrong with him?' She asked Alistair who looked at the mage as he cast a spell.

'I've seen it before. There was an elf, in my joining, who had been exposed to the darkspawn taint, it burnt like a fire in their blood, much like your mibari was suffering from.' He watched his old friend. 'He's going to hate us for this.'

'Hate us for what?' She asked and the mage gazed at him with concerned eyes, probably having an idea of just how far along the elf was more than he did.

'He has the taint in his blood, the only way to become immune…' He trailed off and she gazed back at him with large dark eyes.

'Is to become a grey warden.' She looked down at Zevran for a moment. 'We set the joining for tonight.' She said seriously and looking around. 'Take him up to the medical wing.'

'There is no guarantee this will work, he's very far gone.' Alistair wanted to prepare her for what may be inevitable.

'We can't just let him die, not without trying.' Alistair nodded.

'What's in the box?' She looked down and opened it. Inside the velvet lined box was a vial of bright red blood and a note tied onto it with string, written in dwarvish. She held the note between her fingers and read it out to him.

'Archdemon blood works better when fresh.' She looked at the vial and then back at the note. The handwriting was perfect and round like a child who was learning their letters for the first time. 'I guess that answers a lot of questions.'

'Zev will be able to answer more.' She nodded. 'Are there any others you want to induct tonight?' He asked and she hesitated a moment before nodding.

'The dwarves. There are some.'

*

_Join us brothers and sisters._

The elf had roused as the oldest of the wardens had mixed up the blood. The discussion about using the fresh blood from the arch demon had been moot, the supply they had taken from the arch demon had been shipped to Weisshaupt for proper storage in readiness for the next few hundred years. The only blood they had was that which had been given freely from the current arch demon. That it was a trap seemed inevitable, that they had no choice was the problem.

_Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant._

Zevran had watched the blood curdle in the crystal goblet next to the bed he had been placed in and closed his eyes. Carefully Sereda took his hand and he glanced up at her for a long moment. Alistair knew that there had almost been something between them, that they'd had a bond that he had no part of. At the time the thought had made him want to bite his tongue with jealousy but now what else could he ask of them. There was some kind of non verbal communication they shared right now and he desperately wanted to be part of it. He could be sending his best friend to his death and he was certainly giving him something he had never wanted.

_Join us as we carry the duty that cannot be forsworn._

She supported him as Alistair brought the blood across to the bed, sitting next to his friend. He was so weak he could barely keep himself from slipping back into the sheets. Alistair held out the goblet and the elf gazed at him, before reaching out to put a stalling hand on his wrist. There was something deep and dark in the elf's eyes as he thought about what was to happen to him. Alistair wondered what could be so bad that he would choose a lingering painful death over the chance of life. Zevran was a fighter. After a few moments of searching his soul the elf nodded.

_And should you perish,_

Alistair held the cup to his lips and he could smell the slight acrid scent as the blood burnt the elf's lips. He heard him swallow once and took the cup away, mopping up some spilled blood on his chin before it scarred him. He remembered watching Sereda after she drank the blood, how she reached out for nothing and collapsed, he had watched Daveth die from it. Zevran grunted, his jaw locking almost immediately as a bright agony swept through him with a shiver. He began to scream, peals of anguish that could be heard down the corridors, the bright fire that burnt in his blood searing him from the inside as his body fought with the taint inside him. Then he was still.

…_Know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten…_

He looked up, exchanging a glance with Sereda, seeing the tears on her cheeks and wanting to comfort her. Yet inside he felt hollow, his friend, the only one he'd had for so long.

'He's breathing.' She said softly and Alistair glanced at him. His breath so shallow that at first glance you would think him dead. His breath caught in his throat as the elven eyes fluttered open.

…_and that one day, we shall join you._

During the joining the eyes go white as you reach out to the demon and then they return to their normal colour when that connection is closed down. His eyes were ice blue. Alistair sucked in a breath and then let it out heavily.

'Sleep my friend. There is only so much that can be expected of you today.'


End file.
